Peron Thwarted By Crash at Szlakiem Walk Mjr Hubala

01 June 2018

Race: Szlakiem Walk Major Hubala, stage 1

Start/Finish: Poswietne/Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, Poland

Distance: 194 kilometers

OSTROWIEC SWIETOKRZYSKI, POLAND — Poland’s first summer weekend of high-intensity racing began on Friday with a long and nervous day in the saddle for Team Novo Nordisk as they squared off against 24 other teams to contest the Szlakiem Walk Major Hubala, a 4-day, 5-stage race that memorializes a Polish Cavalry officer and Olympic athlete from the Second World War.

Umberto Poli hit the breakaway early, but was caught after 20km and a series of bonus sprints that brought the rest of the peloton forward. With teammate David Lozano, the two riders remained at the front over narrow roads through rolling hill country northeast of Krakow.

Warm weather and abundant crowds greeted the peloton on its way to the finish, where Andrea Peron moved forward in anticipation of a group sprint. With help and protection from his teammates Peron was in a top 10 position into the final corner when a crash in front of him with just 50m to go brought the Italian rider to a complete stop.

Peron was uninjured and finished, and Joonas Henttala suffered light abrasions in a separate crash with 30km to go.

Team Novo Nordisk continues racing the ‘Major Hubala’ through Sunday.

UMBERTO POLI

“The circuit was nervous and a little bit dangerous. For this we preferred not to take too many risks. Andrea took a good position in the last corner, but somebody crashed, forcing Andrea to stop and restart. Tomorrow is the really long day, with a road race in the morning and a time trial in the afternoon.”